I58-Network

Concerns have been expressed that proposed reforms to China’s application of the death penalty may not result in significantly fewer executions.

Concerns have been expressed by opponents of capital punishment that proposed reforms of China’s application of the death penalty may not result in significantly fewer executions.

The Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, reported today that proposed amendments to China’s criminal code may see the death penalty removed from 13 out of 68 crimes that currently carry the punishment.

The draft amendments are working their way through numerous readings in China’s legislative chamber.

“Although we would welcome any reform that would in practice decrease executions in China, we are not yet convinced that these legal revisions will have a significant impact” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Deputy-Director for the Asia-Pacific.

As part of its campaigning against the death penalty, the respected international NGO has called on China to reduce the number of capital crimes.

“We are still waiting for the Chinese government to release the data that shows these proposed revisions are more than just legal housekeeping, removing crimes which have seldom been punished with the death penalty in recent years” said Catherine Baber.

The draft amendment to China’s criminal code would, if passed, reportedly remove the death penalty as a punishment for white collar crimes such as tax fraud, and for smuggling valuables and cultural relics. It would also remove the death penalty as a punishment for those over 75 years of age.

The ultimate impact of any reforms to China's use of the death penalty cannot be publicly known and evaluated due to classification of execution figures as state secrets.

Amnesty (http://www.amnesty.org/) is calling on the Chinese government to make the draft legislation and the national execution figures public, so that there can be transparent analysis and debate on the death penalty.

In a challenge to China’s lack of transparency, Amnesty also declined to publish its own minimum figures for Chinese executions and death sentences in its worldwide annual report this year on the death penalty. China is estimated to be the world’s biggest executor.

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The Disasters Emergency Committee says that for the first time in 45 years it has seen donations rise during the second week of an appeal.

The Disasters Emergency Committee says that for the first time in 45 years, it has seen donations rise rather than fall during the second week of an appeal.

DEC officials and member agencies have been telling the media today that the generosity of the British public, who have so far contributed £30 million to the Pakistan Floods Appeal, further shames governments and the international community, who have been tardy in their response to a catastrophic emergency with massive long-term implications.

The unprecedented pattern of giving, long after the Pakistan appeal broadcasts on 5 August 2010, was a reflection of growing public awareness of the full scale of the tragedy, the DEC said.

Even the extraordinary giving to the DEC Haiti Appeal saw huge initial donations decline steeply in week two.

The continuing high level of donations is critically important, says the Disasters Emergency Committee, because 20 million people in Pakistan are now affected and there is a serious threat to survivors from water-borne diseases.

DEC member agencies and their partners have so far helped over 800,000 people. The Committee consists of Action Aid, Age UK, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, and World Vision.

Disasters Emergency Committee Chief Executive Brendan Gormley commented: “It is sometimes harder to fully appreciate the impact of disasters such as floods that take longer to develop. However, the response of UK public to the floods in Pakistan has been extraordinary. We have never seen anything like it in our 45 year history."

He continued: “This is a tragedy unfolding in slow motion with new areas still being flooded and the threat of deadly water borne disasters stalking millions of survivors."

“The full impact of the disaster will only be revealed when flood waters finally recede and the extent [of the] devastation is uncovered," said Gormley.

By comparison with the Pakistan Appeal, donations to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal declined by 28 per cent in the second week of the appeal; Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam Appeal donations by 62 per cent; Myanmar donations by 54 per cent and Tsunami donations by 24 per cent.

Donations to the Pakistan Floods Appeal increased by 18 per cent in the second week and have yet to begin dropping.

The disaster has already claimed the lives of 1,600 people and is estimated to have affected 20-25 million people, according to the United Nations and international NGOs.

The DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal is separate from the pledges being sought by the UN, which is hoping to secure funds from governments worldwide.

A summary of all other DEC Member Agency efforts can be found at: http://www.dec.org.uk/item/442

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal, call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707

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The Scottish government was right to release the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, an official of the Church of Scotland says.

The Scottish government was right to release the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing on compassionate grounds, an official of the Church of Scotland says.

"The principle behind the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi a year ago was right, compassion, and my views haven't changed since I welcomed his release on 20 August last year," the Rev Ian Galloway, convener of the Presbyterian denomination's church and society council, has told ENInews.

The spiritual leader of Roman Catholics in Scotland has taken a similar stance, criticising the furore in the United States over the decision.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said Scotland had a culture of care, while too many in the US were fixed on vengeance.

The case has been complicated by claims that BP lobbied the UK and Scottish governments over the case, in relation to Libyan oil deals. But no substantial evidence has been offered for this allegation.

Similarly, some politicians say that the release was related to attempts to cover up the failings of the UK and Scottish governments in handling the issue.

The Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, released Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, after being told that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of his life expectancy.

He has now lived for much longer and subsequent medical opinion suggests that, with alleviative tretament, he may survive for up to two years.

But the Scottish Government is adamant that it made the right decision at the time.

Relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing are divided on the issue, with most in the US opposing Megrahi's release, while many in Britain doubt his guilt on the evidence considered, and are much more upset that the major enquiry they have called for seems destined not to go ahead now.

Cardinal O'Brien declared: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth - that is not our culture in Scotland and I would like to think that the US government, and these states that do still have capital punishment, would learn something from us."

He appealed to Americans to "direct their gaze inwards" instead of attacking the Scottish justice system, and said the use of the death penalty meant the USA kept "invidious company" with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"In some states it's month by month now that they are killing people who have a right to live, whatever they've done wrong," he said.

The Catholic leader also backed the Scottish government's decision not to give evidence to American senators investigating Megrahi's release.

The similar opinions of a leading Church of Scotland figure reflect an overwhelming preference for mercy over vengeance among churches in Scotland, a commentator told Ekklesia.

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The chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is "delighted" that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care over gay adoptions.

The Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), says she is "delighted" that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care in its appeal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples who wish to provide homes for hard-to-place children.

Ferguson declared that the Commission "had sided with common sense and in support of human rights", and said that the families concerned would provide "loving and caring homes".

On Thursday 19 August 2010, the Charity Commission announced its decision to not give consent to the charity Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only.

The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has considered the evidence and the relevant law and concluded that it would not be justified in the circumstances for the charity to discriminate in this way.

Ms Ferguson said: “For too long public opinion has been influenced by the notion that lesbians and gay men cannot be good parents and that they would influence the child’s sexual orientation. This unfounded belief is homophobia, pure and simple, and therefore LGCM congratulates the Charities Commission in its ruling."

She added: “It is sad and regrettable that Christian adoption agencies have to be forced to enter the twenty-first century. Agencies like Catholic Care should be more concerned to place children in loving, stable, and committed homes, than with hanging on to homophobic ideas.”

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New report from the Pew Research Centre shows more than 50 per cent of Americans support same sex civil unions.

According to new national research, Americans have become more accepting of homosexuality during the past 16 years, with over half of those polled saying they support civil unions.

The Pew Research Centre's new report, released last Friday (19 Aug) and compiled from a selction of public studies done over the last 20 years, said support for same-sex civil unions had risen from 45 per cent in 2003 to 57 per cent in 2009. The increase in support for same-sex marriage was more modest, but still showed a rise in support from 30 per cent in 2003 to 38 per cent in 2010.

Among religious respondents to the recent polls, Latino Catholics showed more movement toward supporting gay marriage (at 57 per cent) than Latino Protestants (at 22 per cent).

National polls by the Pew Centre have apparently found that younger Americans are much more accepting of LGBT people, and researchers reportedly say that the generational divide over the issue will eventually bring about a collision.

Daniel Cox, director of research for Public Religion Research Institute and co-author of the report said, "The clergy risk alienating a significant number of young folks if they take a real hard line approach on same-sex marriage".

Despite such encouraging statistics, in the Proposition 8 issue, 52 per cent of Californians voted for the constitutional amendment which bars gay men and lesbians from marrying. When District Judge Vaughn Walker recently ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, it was expected that same-sex couples would be able to resume wedding plans last week, but opponents were successful in their plea that the ban should remain in place until they have appealed.

The ruling is currently being challenged in federal court, and the ban will remain until December when further proceedings against its lifting are to take place.

Experts believe it wil be another two years before the case comes before the Supreme Court.

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People opposed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) investments in oil tar sands have super-glued themselves to a branch in Edinburgh as part of a day of protest.

People opposed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) investments in oil tar sands have super-glued themselves to its Nicholson Street branch in the heart of Edinburgh. They have been joined by performers angry about RBS’ sponsorship of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Campaigners point out that taxpayers now own a majority stake in RBS, but the bank is still investing heavily in activities that contribute to climate change.

Nonviolent protests are taking place around Edinburgh today (23 August) under the umbrella of the Camp for Climate Action, which has been camped opposite RBS’ global headquarters in Gogarburn for the last week.

“Climate change kills 400,000 people every year,” said one participant, Jenny South, “RBS invests in oil from Canadian tar sands – the most climate-busting fuel on the planet, and one which is devastating local indigenous communities”.

She added, “We are standing together with those communities to resist this 21st century atrocity, to make a passionate call for climate justice, and to hasten a much-needed fossil fuel-free future”.

At 8.00am, other activists targeted the headquarters of Forth Energy in Leith in response to the company’s plans for four new power stations in Scotland which campaigners describe as “environmentally destructive”. Two climbed onto the roof and displayed banners, while others chained themselves to railings or entered the building. It is not yet clear whether they have been removed.

Campaigners have also spread fake oil outside the offices of Cairn Energy, causing an 'oil spill' in protest against the company’s recent drilling off the coast of Greenland. It was revealed yesterday that the project was helped by loans of £117 million which Cairn Energy received from RBS last year.

“Risky drilling in the Arctic by Cairn Energy has only been made possible by financial involvement by RBS,” said activist Alex Wilson, “This is an outrageous use of over a hundred million pounds of public money given the economic and climate crises that we are facing”.

Lesley Clark of Lothian and Borders Police said that she supported the right to lawful protest but accused the direct activists of not respecting the city. She said there is now likely to be a “more robust response” from the police.

The protests are particularly embarrassing for RBS, coming at a time when the city is full of visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe, which they have sponsored.

“RBS doesn't just sponsor the Edinburgh Fringe, it sponsors the oil companies who destroy the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world through oil spills, war, drought and floods,” said Wilson.

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A leading Rabbi who heads up an inclusive schools campaign says religious people should stop opposing quality RE in publicly-funded schools.

A leading Rabbi who heads up an inclusive schools campaign says religious people should stop opposing quality RE in publicly-funded schools.

At present, Religious Education (RE) in schools is not part of the National Curriculum, meaning that its provision varies greatly in quality, and in some cases can be hijacked by particular interests groups or be taught in a way which does not give a balanced or comprehensive account of the variety of beliefs that shape the modern world, both religious and non-religious.

But faith schools in England continue to avoid proper accountability and supervision through the national Curriculum in order to be able to teach the subject from a selective, exclusive or confessional viewpoint.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, writing to the Times newspaper on Saturday 21 August 2010 in response to a report about the recent More4 television programme highlighting faith schools concerns, says it is ironic that while atheists such as the programme's presenter Richard Dawkins want Religious Education to be on the National Curriculum, "there are many religious people who oppose it to safeguard their own particular interests."

He declared: "It is vital that all children should know about the history, beliefs and traditions of the many different belief systems (including Humanism) that make up multi-faith Britain today, whatever their own personal religious orientation. It is a matter both of general knowledge and social cohesion."

Dr Romain is chair of the Accord Coalition, which brings a wide variety of organisations and individuals together to call for the reform of publicly-funded religious foundation ('faith') schools, seeking an end to current discriminatory practices in admissions, employment, assemblies and curricula.

The Christian think-tank Ekklesia is among the founding members of the Accord Coalition.

The Times letter in full:

Dear Sir:

It is ironic that while atheists such as Richard Dawkins want Religious Education to be on the National Currriculum (Times report, Aug 18), there are many religious people who oppose it to safeguard their own particular interests.

At the moment RE is in the anomalous position of being the only subject that is a statutary subject - ie it must be taught - but it is not on the National Curriculum - ie there is no set syllabus for it, just non-compulsory guidelines. This had led to wide variations according to local agreements or the category of schools, with many instances of only one faith being taught.

It is vital that all children should know about the history, beliefs and traditions of the many different belief systems (including Humanism) that make up multi-faith Britain today, whatever their own personal religious orientation. It is a matter both of general knowledge and social cohesion.

The Accord Coalition - which unites those of faith and no faith concerned about religious education - urges the government to take this step during its review of the curriculum next month, and thereby ensure that the next generation can be not only diverse, but also informed and at ease with itself.

Rabbi Dr JONATHAN ROMAIN
Chair, Accord Coalition
1 Gower Street
London
WC1E 6HD

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Two Lutherans left the Augustinian priory in Erfurt, Germany, on 22 August, to walk one thousand miles retracing the footsteps of Martin Luther.

Two Lutherans left the Augustinian priory in Erfurt, Germany, on Sunday 22 August, to walk one thousand miles retracing the footsteps of Martin Luther on his fateful journey to Rome.

For the Rev Sarah Hinlicky Wilson and her husband, Dr Andrew Lars Wilson, it is much more than a long hike to Italy - it is a chance to meet people face-to-face and to discuss the importance of inter-Christian cooperation with those who follow their journey online.

Luther, an Augustinian friar and Reformation pioneer in Europe, created controversy with his 95 Theses. His statement, which he nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, raised tough questions about practices in the Western Church.

The Wilsons' pilgrimage takes place exactly 500 years after Luther himself left Erfurt in 1510 for Rome. They will follow a route through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy, arriving in Rome in about 70 days.

The journey also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference in Scotland, often cited as the birth of the ecumenical movement - and already marked by a centenary conference in Scotland and a forthcoming one in South Africa.

The notion of retracing Luther's footsteps was an idea that the Wilsons discussed during their days in graduate school at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, USA.

"The journey had a big impact on Luther," said Sarah Wilson, research professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France, in an interview with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) News Service. Wilson is a pastor of the ELCA and editor of Lutheran Forum.

When she began her work in Strasbourg, Wilson said she did not know much about ecumenism. But she said she has since gained a passion for it during her time with the Institute, which is among several organisations sponsoring the journey.

Wilson explained that she and her husband are posting daily updates at http://www.hereiwalk.org on the web. "During the Reformation it was pamphlets; for us it's blogs," she added. The couple will also post updates using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter, and post photos and video taken during their journey.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal last week, Wilson commented that during the pilgrimage "our hope is that, through the use of these new media, the controversial figure of Martin Luther and the current relationship between the Catholic and Lutheran churches will appear in a new light."

"Most Lutherans and Catholics remain unaware of the remarkable ways that their churches have drawn together over the past 50 years," she wrote. "Differences and disputes still compel greater interest than convergence and agreement. So we two pilgrims invite Catholics, Lutherans and all other Christians concerned for the unity of the church to join us on this pilgrimage."

The Wilsons will use their website to engage followers about Reformation history, Luther's journey and discuss ecumenical concepts and spirituality, Wilson commented. She said they will also discuss the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, a significant milestone in Lutheran-Catholic relations, reflect on Vatican II and other significant topics for Protestants and Catholics. "We will try to draw some connections between Catholics and Lutherans," she said.

"I think the most significant piece is that the ecumenical movement invites us to see each other in the light of God, overlooking neither our failures (nor our) virtues," Wilson said. She added that by taking the journey and engaging Lutherans and others, she and her husband hope people see Luther as a teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Andrew Lars Wilson, a post-doctoral fellow at the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue, Geneva, has also done a lot of hiking in his lifetime. He determined the route the two will take, making adjustments to it based on the advice of friends and followers.

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Seven people who say they were abused as children by a Roman Catholic priest in California are taking legal action against the Catholic Diocese of Oakland.

Seven people who say they were abused as children by a Roman Catholic priest in California are taking legal action against the Catholic Church.

They are suing the diocese of Oakland, where the abuse is alleged to have taken place. They accuse the diocese of hiring the priest, Stephen Kiesle, despite knowing that there were several allegations of abuse against him.

Kiesle was removed from the priesthood in 1987. Nine years earlier, he had been convicted of “lewd conduct” with two boys.

The six women and one man who are bringing the case allege that the Diocese did nothing effective to safeguard children. One of their lawyers has said that the Church was more concerned with its own reputation.

In response, a spokesperson for the diocese of Oakland told the BBC that they have not yet seen the details of the legal challenge filed against them.

The case has drawn attention partly because of the involvement of the current Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, who discussed Kiesle's potential defrocking with the diocese in the 1980s. He wrote that the allegations against Kiesle were of “grave significance” and that the question of removing him from the priesthood required “careful review”.

However, neither the Pope nor Vatican officials are named in the current lawsuit.

The Roman Catholic Church has faced thousands of allegations of child sexual abuse in various parts of the world in recent years. Grassroots Catholic groups have urged the Vatican to respond more meaningfully to the crisis and to address the power structures and culture that encouraged the cover-up of abuse.

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Pressure is growing for same-sex couples to be given full equality in marriage law after 98 per cent of LGBT people polled said civil partnerships don't go far enough.

Pressure is growing for same-sex couples to be given full equality in marriage law after 98 per cent of people questioned in a poll of Pink News readers declared that civil partnerships do not go far enough.

The magazine, which is read primarily by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, followed the poll by asking a number of organisations to express their views on the issue. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) was one of several to respond by calling for marriage equality.

LGBT groups within all three leading political parties also expressed their support. But Pink News says that Stonewall, Britain's largest LGB charity, declined to respond to the request. Stonewall has been accused by other campaigners of dragging its feet on the issue of marriage.

“I am so glad that you are talking about 'marriage equality' and not 'gay marriage',” said Rev Sharon Ferguson of LGCM, “Marriage is the celebration and legal recognition of the commitment between two people – the gender of those involved should not be an issue”.

She also pointed out the “ludicrous scenario for some trans people”. Currently the law states that if one partner in a married couple changes gender then the marriage is annulled. If the couple choose to remain together, they have to enter a civil partnership in order to achieve legal recognition of their relationship.

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell added, “The main issue is not whether same-sex marriage is a priority but whether LGBT people should be banned from getting married. We should not be banned.”

In what some may see as a criticism of Stonewall, Tatchell added that, “No LGBT organisation claiming to support equal rights should remain silent and inactive while we are denied the right to marry”.

Scotland has recently seen the launch of the Equal Marriage Campaign, which brings together a number of faith groups, human rights activists and other organisations to promote marriage equality in the country. Amnesty International has backed the campaign.

The UK Parliament voted in April to allow religious elements in civil partnerships in England and Wales. There will be no element of compulsion for churches and other faith groups who do not wish to participate. The government is currently holding consultations about how this law will be implemented.

Quakers, Unitarians, Liberal Jews and the Metropolitan Community Church have all said that they are interested in carrying out same-sex weddings.

The religion and society thinktank Ekklesia is calling for a thorough overhaul of marriage law that would separate the religious and personal elements of marriage from the legal aspects. This would enable people to enter into a ceremony that had personal and, if they wish, religious significance, with legal registration being a separate process for those who want state recognition.

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Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian authorities not to paralyse a man in retribution for similar injuries he allegedly caused during a fight.

Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian authorities not to deliberately paralyse a man in retribution for similar injuries he allegedly caused during a fight.

Reports say a court in Tabuk, in the north-west of the country, had approached a number of hospitals about the possibility of cutting the man’s spinal cord to carry out the punishment of qisas (retribution), as requested by the injured victim.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Acting Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said:

“We urge the Saudi Arabian authorities not to carry out such a punishment, which amounts to nothing less than torture.

“While those guilty of a crime should be held accountable, intentionally paralysing a man in this way would constitute torture, and be a breach of its international human rights obligations.”

According to one report, one hospital has said it would be possible to medically administer the injury at the same place on the spinal cord as the damage the man is alleged to have caused his victim using a cleaver during a fight more than two years ago, causing similar paralysis.

The court may decide not to impose the paralysis punishment and could instead sentence the man to imprisonment, financial compensation, or flogging.

The man, whose name has not been made public, has already been sentenced to seven months imprisonment for the offence. Amnesty has received information that he was convicted and sentenced following a trial where he was said to have had no legal assistance.

Under international human rights law, the use of this sentence would constitute a violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

It would contravene the UN Convention Against Torture to which Saudi Arabia is a state party and the Principles of Medical Ethics adopted by the UN General Assembly.

Saudi Arabia regularly sentences people to various forms of corporal punishment.

Flogging is mandatory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a number of offences and can also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or in addition to other punishments.

In cases of qisas (retribution) other sentences passed have included eye-gouging, tooth extraction, and death in cases involving murder.

According to the Principles of Medical Ethics adopted by the UN General Assembly, it is a gross contravention of medical ethics, as well as a breach of applicable international instruments, for health personnel, particularly physicians, to engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

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Leading members of the Green Party have travelled to Norwich in support of the party's campaign to become the main party on a local authority for the first time.

Leading members of the Green Party have travelled to Norwich in support of the party's campaign to become the main party on a UK local authority for the first time ever. Jenny Jones, Member of the Greater London Assembly and former Deputy Mayor of London, could be seen on the campaign trail this week.

The so-called “mega-by-election” has been scheduled as a result of a court decision earlier this year.

The elections of 9 September could see Norwich Greens become the biggest party on the city council. In 2008, they became the first ever Green council group to form the official opposition, with more Green councillors than Tories and Liberal Democrats combined.

Norwich Greens are focusing on their support for local small businesses. Jenny Jones met members of the "Buy Local" network, who together are opposing a mini-supermarket development which they say will harm existing smaller shops.

“Greens across the country are playing a leading role in supporting the local economy during the recession,” said a party spokesperson.

Greens point to the example of Lancaster’s indoor market, which was saved through a campaign involving local Green councillors. Their motion to the council won the support of Labour and other councillors to ensure that tenants' leases were renewed.

“The decision meant that local jobs, tourism and food production were saved, and proved popular with local shoppers who enjoyed the choice and healthy goods provided by the market,” said the Greens.

Greens in Camden, north London, carry out an annual survey of local shopping streets to measure how many vacant shops there are, how many have recently closed, and how many are soon to close. They say this helps the party to understand the particular problem areas, and most effectively campaign to protect local businesses.

Greens have also campaigned against the construction of a new Asda store in Shipley, Bradford, supported campaigns for “local business zones” in St Albans and produced a guide on local shopping in York. In Ladywell, south London, Green councillor Sue Luxton organised a competition at a local primary school to design a logo for fairly-traded, organic cotton carriers which bear slogans encouraging residents to shop locally.

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The US government has invited the two major parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a summit in Washington on 2 September 2010.

The US government has invited the two major parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a summit in Washington on 2 September 2010.

The purpose, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is to re-start direct peace negotiations with a view to completing them and finding a lasting solution "within a year".

Commentators have been amazed at the boldness and ambition of the plan, given the failure of a series of comparable initiatives over the past ten years.

The move comes after months of intense international pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to agree to the first face-to-face political talks for more than 18 months.

The two men are expected to attend the launch of the negotiations by President Obama.

The aim is to end 43 years of Israeli occupation and usher in an autonomous Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one.

Hamas is still refusing to engage in direct talks, but it is hoped that the pressure on them will grow if the parameters of a settlement can be agreed.

Ms Clinton acknowledged the many obstacles facing the talks. She said: "There have been difficulties in the past; there will be difficulties ahead. I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region."

The Palestinian President had been seeking explicit "parameters" for the talks, including an agreement that a future two-state solution to the conflict should be based on Israel's pre-1967 borders.

The new Quartet statement does not itself refer to the settlements issue directly, says the Independent newspaper in London, but instead reaffirms a "full commitment" to statements made at the Moscow and Trieste meetings earlier this year.

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Britain's Quakers have said that they will work alongside other opponents of Trident nuclear weapons, even if they do not share the Quakers' commitment to peace.

Britain's Quakers have said that they will work alongside other opponents of Trident nuclear weapons, even if they do not share the Quakers' commitment to peace. But they insisted that they would not compromise on their principles.

Their comments follow growing criticism of Trident from commentators who fear that the cost of Trident renewal will reduce other areas of military spending. In contrast, the Quakers' opposition to Trident springs from their historic commitment to pacifism.

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a pro-military thinktank, has suggested that Trident should be “scaled back” for financial reasons. Richard Dannatt, who recently retired as head of the army, has urged the government to review Trident spending.

“Whilst as Quakers we will never compromise our integrity to achieve a campaigning end, we welcome any support in campaigning to get rid of Trident and are happy to work with others on this issue,” said Sam Walton on behalf of Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), when questioned on the issue by The Friend, a weekly independent Quaker magazine.

Nuclear weapons have until now been funded separately to the core Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has said he now wants the MoD to find the money itself. Defence Secretary Liam Fox is resisting the suggestion.

The government places the cost of Trident renewal at £20bn, but other estimates have put it as high as £94bn.

“Perhaps the reason why no-one wants to pay for Trident is that it’s not of any practical use,” suggested Walton, “The cost of Trident is ludicrous, especially given how little value for money we realise in terms of any sort of security”.

Shifting Trident funding to the MoD would have major effects on military expenditure. Although the MoD budget could be increased by the expected cost of Trident, this would still leave nuclear arms competing with other calls on the same pot of money.

Not all peace campaigners are confident about working alongside anyone who opposes Trident. “On a tactical level, I’m pleased about anything that moves towards lower military spending,” said Albert Beale of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), “But pacifists cannot agree with the logic of arguments that are anti-Trident but pro-military”.

Beale told The Friend that peace activists should keep in mind the “longer-term aim of demilitarisation”.

Trident renewal is opposed by a number of faith groups, including the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches and the Church of Scotland, as well as several Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops. Polls suggest that a majority of the public is also opposed.

Quakers, known more formally as the Religious Society of Friends, have maintained a stand against war since their beginnings in mid-seventeenth century. In 1661, they declared that the “spirit of Christ which leads us into all Truth will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons”.

The Quaker peace testimony is one of a number of “testimonies”, through which Quakers witness to their experience of God through their behaviour in the world.

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Looking a gift horse in the mouth is generally thought graceless and discourteous. But when the donor is a multi-millionaire ex-Prime Minister who took his country into a war of dubious legality and certain immorality, and the recipient is a charitable project for injured service personnel, the convention may justifiably be set aside.

The universities minister David Willetts has come under attack after telling students to lower their sights and apply to “less competitive” universities next year.

The universities minister is under fire after telling students to lower their sights and apply to “less competitive” universities next year. David Willetts was attacked by the University and College Union (UCU), which represents academic and teaching staff.

“I am astounded that the government’s insulting response to the university crisis is simply to advise some people to temper their ambition,” said the UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt.

The UCU added that around 200,000 students are set to miss out on a university place this year. They pointed out that if some students “aim lower”, then all that would do is lower the chance of a different group of students securing a place - it would not reduce the number of people missing out overall.

“After years of being inspired to aim higher the coalition government is actually telling students to aim lower,” said Hunt.

She added, ““Education has the power to change people’s lives and anybody who purports to be serious about increasing social mobility has to recognise that. Nick Clegg surely cannot be happy with his colleague’s comments.”

The UCU insists that the “real answer” to the economic crisis involves investment in more university places. They believe that businesses, which benefit from recruiting graduates, should pay more tax to help finance this.

“Too many bright teenagers will be left with no educational place this summer,” said Hunt, “We risk consigning a whole generation to the scrapheap of inactivity”.

Meanwhile, Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said that education cuts at a time of high youth unemployment would help to keep Britain as “one of the world's most unequal societies”.

This week's A Level results were the first since the introduction of the new A* grade and provided further evidence of the gap between private and state education. Fee-paying schools provided only 14 per cent of A Level entries, but achieved 30 per cent of the A* grades.

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Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a peaceful future depends on education.

Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a just and peaceful future in Israel and Palestine depends upon education.

The average age in the area he lives, said the Archbishop, is 14 years, and many young people have been deeply scarred and shaped by the history of occupation and eviction. Transformation of lives and understanding is vital, he suggested.

Chacour is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel - including the best-seller Blood Brothers, which broke boundaries in the UK by being published by a major evangelical company.

The archbishop said that his strong commitment to nonviolence in the face of what to many appears to be an intractable conflict was something flowing naturally "first of all from my commitment to Jesus Christ... and also to the dignity of my people."

"I am an inferior citizen", he declared, referring to the second class status of Arabs in Israel, which defines itself as a Jewish state. The land, he said, should be for the nourishment of all.

In the 1980s, Chacour started a small school building. Now the co-educational Mar Elias Educational Institutions enroll 4,500 students, including pupils from Muslim, Christian and Druze backgrounds.

Seeing children as "our present and our future", the archbishop said his schools were Christian in character but open to everyone.

Echoing the theme of a major lecture he is due to give at St Mary's Catholic Cathedral this evening, Archbishop Chacour described "the promised land" as more "a land of promises" - many of them broken by religiously grounded communities whose ethic and practice is supposed to be rooted in the Golden Rule, "do as you would be done by".

At St John's Episcopal (Anglican) Church for a lunchtime talk on 20 August, attended by several hundred people, the archbishop was engaged in a lively and passionate conversation by the Rev Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid in Scotland, and former leader of the Iona Community.

The challenge, he said, referring back to Jesus' Beatitudes (blessings on those at the margins of society), is not to remain piously aloof, but "to get our hands dirty in working for justice and peace for both Palestinians and Jews."

This must include building relationships and acts solidarity - for instance to those whose homes are being destroyed - Chacour declared.

More on Elias Chacour from Ekklesia: http://www.books.ekklesia.co.uk/search/node/chacour

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The Home Office idea of withdrawing benefits from claimants with illegal drug or alcohol problems who do not turn up for treatment might seem at first glance reasonable, says Savi Hensman. But despite its popular appeal, in the end the result will be disastrous.

The Home Office is considering withdrawing benefits from claimants with illegal drug or alcohol problems who do not turn up for treatment, the BBC reports. This might seem at first glance reasonable, and will have some popular appeal, but the end result will be disastrous.

The proposal was first floated by the last government, but in May the Social Security Advisory Committee warned that withdrawing benefits from addicts would lead them into crime and prostitution.

After weighing up the evidence, this independent statutory Committee had concluded that it felt strongly that the scheme “is unlikely to be effective, contains a number of significant flaws and is unlikely to produce robust results”, indeed “runs a high risk of causing significant harm”.

Claimants already led chaotic lives which caused them harm, and there was no reason to suppose that punishing them still more would be helpful – indeed the threat could drive them further away from getting help. The idea was dropped.

A lot of people with drug and alcohol problems are mentally ill. According to a 2003 article in the British Journal of Psychiatry focused on community mental health and substance misuse services, 75 per cent of drug service and 85 per cent of alcohol service patients “had a past-year psychiatric disorder... Large proportions are not identified by services and receive no specialist intervention.”

It is not just the claimants who will suffer, but also their families. Some people struggling with substance misuse problems are just about holding things together for the sake of their children, or other family members for whom they are caring.

Cutting off their benefits if they fail to turn up to a treatment session will devastate the lives of their children too, some of whom will end up in care.

In addition, carers who strive to help drug-dependent relatives and friends may find their efforts undermined, and in some cases have to meet their loved ones’ living costs themselves.

It is also likely that the scheme will punish some people who are ill but do not have drug problems. As the Social Security Advisory Committee warned, “The use of reasonable suspicion also brings with it the worrying likelihood that claimants with certain physical and mental health conditions could be ‘suspected’ of having a drug problem that is a barrier to their finding work.” Job advisers would “have a series of factors to consider in order to help with identification.

The list includes incoherent answers to questions and unkempt appearance/hygiene issues, symptoms that could well be associated with a number of non-drug related physical and mental health conditions. Claimants could therefore face mandatory questions about their drug use, when they in fact do not use illegal drugs.

So sick claimants could face extra stress and humiliation, and some might drop out of the process of claiming if they could not cope, leaving them extremely vulnerable.

Ironically, people who are ready for treatment for alcohol or drug problems can find this difficult to get. If scarce places on programmes are taken up by people coerced into signing up when they are not yet able to benefit, this will get worse.

So this proposal not only lacks compassion but will also do more harm than good. While the government will save some money by leaving people suspected of having drug and alcohol problems destitute, the overall cost to social services, the NHS and criminal justice service may far outweigh any savings.

Better treatment for people with substance misuse problems, and increased support for their families and health professionals in GP practices and emergency departments to take timely action when patients might benefit, would seem a wiser use of resources.

If people of faith and others of goodwill make their objections known now, the government may back down from this proposal. Otherwise, much damage may be done to the vulnerable before the scheme proves disastrous and is dropped.

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© Savitri Hensman was born in Sri Lanka. She works in the voluntary sector in community care and equalities in the UK, and she is also a respected writer on Christianity and social justice. Savi is an Ekklesia associate.

The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject.

The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject, as raised in a recent television programme.

Religious Education is currently in the anomalous position of being the only compulsory subject in state maintained schools that is not part of the National Curriculum.

The case for reform was raised again in a More 4 television documentary ‘Faith Schools Menace?’, fronted by scientist Richard Dawkins, which questioned the impact of publicly-funded religious foundation schools.

Accord, which brings together both religious and non-religious organisations and individuals, does not take a 'pro' or 'anti' position on faith schools per se, but works for reform to ensure that all schools have open admissions and employment policy, a balanced curriculum, and positive, civically-oriented assemblies.

In the More4 programme, Dr Dawkins met pupils at one faith school who all rejected evolutionary biology because of what they had been taught about their religion.

Critics of the present RE arrangments, many of whom reject the anti-religious stance for which Dr Dawkins has become well known since leaving his post promoting the public understanding of science at Oxford University, nevertheless agree that taxpayer-funded schools should be properly accountable and inspected for what they teach concerning religion and belief, as for other subjects.

Teaching unions, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, one of Accord's member organisations, are among those who have made this point.

Representatives from Accord raised the issue with Nick Gibb, now education minister, prior to the General Election in May 2010.

The chair of the Accord Coalition, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, commented: "The current arrangements for RE are very worrying. In faith schools the RE taught can be very narrow in its scope, while in other schools the quality of RE can also be of a poor quality, which only helps prevent children from developing their understanding of people with different beliefs."

He continued: "The Government must reassess the current arrangements of RE as part of their curriculum review taking place this autumn. A flexible National Curriculum RE syllabus would have many advantages.

"Firstly, it could help ensure that the RE taught in schools is broad and balanced and of a sufficient quality, helping to ensure that children are better prepared for life in our increasingly diverse society.

"Secondly, the current local arrangements for RE are very bureaucratic and expensive and by bringing them to an end the Government will save local authorities around the county many hundreds of thousands of pounds a year at a time when they are under extreme budgetary pressures."

Most schools follow a locally agreed syllabus, which is produced by their local authority responsible for education. Earlier this year, Ofsted released its report, Transforming religious education, which found that the teaching of RE was inadequate in 1/5 of secondary schools in England and urged the Government to reconsider the subject’s current local arrangements.

Meanwhile, in faith schools the RE syllabus taught is determined by the school itself. The RE in these schools is not inspected by the government and can be overtly instructional and fail to expose pupils to other world views than that of the school.

Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia, said: "Good teaching about the variety of beliefs that shape our world, religious and non-religious, is vital in our schools, and all pupils should have access to a wide and informative curriculum in this area, not one limited to the horizons of the school's sponsors, whoever they may be."

He added: "Whatever you think of Richard Dawkins - and we are critical of many of his more extreme and superficial views abut religion - the points raised in this week's More4 television documentary on faith schools remain important. All schools funded by the taxpayer should be building bridges not erecting barriers.

"In the area of science teaching, more evidence of the application of anti-evolutionary creationist ideology, which is theologically as well as scientifically untenable, is a matter of serious concern, and something educationists will want to act on."

Two years ago, Ekklesia and the British Humanist Association jointly pressed for clear guidelines on science teaching, in order to stress that the issue was not one where religious and non-religious parents and teachers needed to divide.

In response, the government stressed that creationism and its close relation Intelligent Design, were not appropriate topics for the science classroom, having no scientific foundation.

Now the BHA is calling on the government to re-iterate its commitment to high quality science teaching, and wants it to investigate the charge that a number of faith schools are propagating creationism.

In the More4 film, Dr Dawkins discovered that RE lessons in some such schools present creationism as scientific fact, directly contradicting the evolution components of the national curriculum. In one case, he found that all 60 Year 10 science students at a Muslim secondary school reject the theory of evolution - which is the basis for all the major progress in the biological sciences in the past hundred years.

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said: "‘This programme highlights why we urgently need a tightening up of the legal requirements. If, as this film seems to suggest, creationism is already being taught as fact in conventional faith schools, then how does the government propose to keep it out of religious ‘free’ schools, which will not have to follow the National Curriculum and are outside local authority control?’

He added: "We are calling on the newly-formed education select committee to conduct a full inquiry into faith schools, looking particularly at their impact on community cohesion, their effect on pupils’ rights, their effect on a balanced curriculum of objective teaching about religious and non-religious beliefs, and the extent to which science teaching may be undermined."

Ekklesia is a founding member of the Accord Coalition. http://accordcoalition.org.uk/

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Former World Council of Churches general secretary Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead.

Former World Council of Churches General Secretary, the Rev Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead in order to prevent the region itself declaring independence - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

"A UDI (unilateral declaration of independence) is the last thing the churches will want to see. It must be avoided at any cost," Kobia, who now serves as the All Africa Conference of Churches special ecumenical envoy for Sudan, told journalists in Nairobi on 17 August 2010.

Kobia spoke as southern Sudanese leaders continued to warn they will declare independence unilaterally on 10 January if the referendum is not held the day before. That date - 9 January - is the one set by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Nairobi. The accord sealed the end of a 21-year-long civil war in which more than two million people died.

The Kenyan Methodist pastor, who left his WCC post in December, warned that declaring UDI would be dangerous because it would split Africa and the global community.

"It is clear that there is no other way that will be honourable and credible for the people to exercise their right to self determination," said Kobia of the proposed referendum.

"It would be dignified if it is done within a referendum because that gives the people the freedom to use their conscience, and decide the future and destiny of Sudan," he added.

Kobia warned of deliberate attempts to frustrate the process so that it would appear, for technical reasons, that the referendum could not be held. The churches' special envoy explained it had taken three years after the signing of the peace agreement before a referendum commission was formed, and that it is not yet fully functioning.

Kobia was appointed to his current post with the AACC, which is tied closely to the WCC, in consultation with the Sudan Ecumenical Forum.

"I was asked and I accepted to serve as the special envoy to Sudan that started in March this year. The AACC, WCC, and SEF responded to a request by the SCC and Sudanese Churches to accompany them at this critical juncture of the history of Sudan," said Kobia.

He is expected to sustain diplomatic efforts to seek to save the agreement from collapsing by engaging both the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Peace Movement and the Sudan government, which both sponsored the pact, along with other stakeholders.

"It has been seen as urgent to have a special envoy for Sudan because the country is undergoing a special situation, which requires a special ecumenical attention," said AACC General Secretary the Rev Andre Karamaga, who worked with Kobia at the WCC.

Asked about his position on the referendum, Kobia said he is non-partisan. Some who support independence for Southern Sudan have criticised his appointment, and say he opposes independence.

"What I want to see is a political dispensation where the people of southern Sudan will enjoy their freedom, justice and life in dignity, and I think that is what matters the most," said Kobia.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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